Protection Detail
by whiteroses-andmockingjays
Summary: Rose Hathaway just wants to live her life normally with her best friend. But how can she possibly do that when she's followed around by bodyguards who watch her every move? Her best friend, Lissa Draogmir's, family has always had a security team, but after her parents and brother died, the bodyguards were handed over to her and Rose...and so were the family's enemies.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One:

Normally if someone woke me up super early in the morning, I would punch them square in the face for bothering me. But when it was your best friend waking you up, the only thing you could do was roll over and toss your blankets over your face.

"Rose, you need to wake up. We need to check-out." My best friend, Lissa, was shaking me. I didn't budge. "If you don't wake up now, I'm going to go get Dimitri or Spiridon and have them carry you out of this hotel, and you know that wouldn't look good." She was right – the sight of one of those two giant men carrying a small girl out of a hotel wouldn't look good. She knew she was right, too, and I could almost picture the smile lighting up her beautiful face.

Sitting up, I rub the sleep from my eyes. "Happy?" She nods and tosses her golden blonde hair over her shoulder. "Give me five minutes." She got up and headed into the attached living room in our suite.

We had taken a weekend vacation to Las Vegas and, albeit her constant warnings last night, I had a little too much to drink and stayed out a little too late. I knew we'd have to get up early to leave and head back to Montana. But did I care? Hell no. The only thing getting me out of this bed was the thought of one of Lissa's security team members carrying me out.

Lissa was the daughter of a very powerful government official who has unfortunately made a lot of enemies who have to problems with targeting his family. Because of that, Lissa's father, Eric Dragomir, had hired the best security team possible to protect his family. Unfortunately, the best security couldn't stop Lissa's parents and her brother, Andre, from being killed by a drunk driver. There was still debate about whether or not the driver had been aiming for the Dragomir family, but he was convicted anyways since he was blacked out drunk. The accident had left Lissa an only child and the heir to a large sum of money – and unfortunately, a lot of enemies who still wanted to hurt her even with her father gone.

She had and I had been best friends since preschool and I was there for her after the accident. We shared an apartment together since we finished high school and we had even graduated from the same college. Going to college with bodyguards was strange and annoying.

Eric Dragomir had apparently left an order for the team members that if anything should happen to him, the team remain on his family's service – and since I was always with Lissa, I was automatically signed a bodyguard. Not that I minded when I found out who my guard was – Dimitri Belikov, a stoic yet hot guy, who was about twenty-eight years old, about six-foot-seven with brown hair that touched his shoulder (which he usually had pulled into a pony tail) and a Russian accent made him that much more perfect.

Lissa came back into the room, checking to make sure I wasn't asleep again. This time, I was actually up and packing – already dressed and ready to go.

There was a knock at the door and Spiridon appeared in the doorway. "Ready to go?" Spiridon was slightly shorter than Dimitri, not as attractive, and had either an Irish or Scottish accent. I couldn't pin exactly which it was.

We headed out of the suite and into the lobby. Dimitri disappeared to grab our car while Spiridon waited with Lissa and I, stealthily scanning the surrounding area – probably waiting for someone to jump out and attack.

A black SUV pulled up – tinted windows and unmarked – and Lissa and I tossed our meager luggage into the back of it and then climbed into the car. Dimitri was in the driver's seat and Spiridon sat in the passenger's seat. We were headed to a small airport where we would board a private plane to another small, secure airport in Montana.

"So," Lissa started as soon as we pulled away from the hotel. "I was thinking that maybe we could go to the lake house for a few days. Christian and Mason could join us. Maybe Mia and Jill, though she'll probably want Eddie to come along." That lot was the group of friends we had managed to stay in touch with after graduating high school and college. Christian was Lissa's high school sweetheart and they were so in love it was sickening. While Lissa was bright and cheerful, Christian Ozera was dark and had a twisted sense of humor – apparently Lissa thought we were alike, which might explain why we tend to butt heads. "Maybe Adrian and Sydney will join us."

Glancing towards the front, I nod towards the two men. "Will Lucky Charms and Comrade be joining us?" It was a rhetorical question, one I didn't try and ask quietly. Lissa fixed me an annoyed look and Spiridon made a sound that sounded like a laugh.

"Hey, that's offensive…" Spiridon said. "Lucky charms are Irish. I'm Scottish." Lissa laughed and I saw Dimitri break into a small smile. It was a rare feat for him.

The plane ride would take about two hours and I was hoping maybe I'd get to sleep, but I couldn't. Somehow Lissa had managed to pass out as soon as we took off. Spiridon was sitting in the back of the plane, a magazine in his hands. Dimitri was seated in the aisle next to me, reading some kind of western novel.

I turned to look out my window and then I heard movement and Dimitri was seating himself next to me. "You don't like myself or Spiridon very much, do you?"

It wasn't a question I was prepared for and he knew it'd take me off guard. I looked at him, afraid that maybe I'd offended him. No, of course I didn't. He's probably dealt with worse than an indifferent twenty-one-year-old. "It's not that I don't like you guys, it's just…I'm never going to get used to having someone who is paid to watch over me. That's not something I ever thought I'd need."

"You've been around Vasilisa your whole life, yes?" I ignored him using Lissa's full name and instead just nodded. "She's had security members her whole life."

I nod again, picking at the strings on my sweater. "Yeah, but they were there for her. I was just another person they had to protect, I was never their actual watch. If I left the house without Lissa, I didn't have someone following me. Now I do. I'm the person someone is ordered to watch."

"Is it weird?" I'm surprised by his sudden interest. We've known each other for the past two years – since the accident – and he's never really tried to know how I thought.

"My mom raised me to take care of myself so I never thought I'd have to leave my safety in someone else's hands."

Dimitri nods. "It is a difficult thing to accept sometimes. But doesn't it make your life easier?"

It did make my life easier, but who said I wanted my life easier? Who said that I didn't want to make life hard for myself? To have to fight for what I want? I know Lissa's dad was thinking of my safety – I was like another daughter to the family – but this wasn't how I pictured my life at all. I wasn't anything special – I didn't get special protection.

Turning back to look at him, I see that he's already calculated my next train of thoughts. Fantastic. "What made you want to be a bodyguard? Protect your sister's teddy bears as a kid?" I joked, cracking a smile.

He laughed (and actual, real laugh!) and shook his head. "No, I uh, after high school I had wanted to join the special forces. I thought it wouldn't be easy for me, but I fit right in. I did two tours and then retired. After that, Eric Dragomir had hired me for his personal security team."

"Wait, why do you have a Russian accent if you've lived here long enough for high school?"

"Because I'm Russian. My family moved to America when I was about six. My grandmother still lives in Russia and I go to visit her a lot. She only speaks Russian and believes I should keep my culture even if I do live in America. My mother and sisters live together in Pennsylvania and they visit my grandmother more than I do."

I can tell he doesn't want to really discuss his family, so I flip back to something he said earlier. "So you're special forces, huh? Did you ever kill anyone?"

All earlier signs of friendliness disappear and he's stoic once again. "That's not something I want to discuss."

My normal Rose Hathaway retorts were lost once I saw his face. I knew he was serious and his face gave everything away. I stayed silent for the rest of the flight and Dimitri had moved back to his original seat.

When we landed, Dimitri was the first one off the flight and Spiridon was the last. There was a car waiting for us with another security team member driving. Once we were back at the apartment, the security members left us for their own set-up, which was on the first floor while Lissa and I were on the third floor. Security wasn't too worried, seeing as someone had to be buzzed into the building, there was a doorman and a front desk security officer along with our high-tech security system, we weren't likely to have problems in our apartment.

Lissa shut the front door and I flopped backwards onto the couch. "I'm hungry. We should order some Chinese food."

She grabbed the Chinese menu and sat down next to me. "So, I saw you and Dimitri talking on the plane. I didn't realize he actually spoke more than five words." She joked and I gave her a small smile, pretending to be interested in the lunch specials.

"Nothing, he just wanted to know why I didn't like the ninja squad."

Lissa laughs and shakes her head. "You should start copyrighting your nicknames. You'd make a killing from the amount of times you've nicknamed our entire security team." There was a mix of humor and slight annoyance in her comment. I ignored it. "But whatever you do, I am going out tonight. Christian and I are going on a date."

The two of them have been together for almost nine years and the look she gets on her face whenever she thinks about him is the same look she got when she first met him.

"You should come out with us. A double date. Maybe with Mason?" She looked more hopeful than she should have.

Mason and I had tried dating back in college after years of flirting in high school and it didn't work out too well. I just couldn't get into it. Flirting with him was one thing, but trying to commit to him and have strong enough feelings for a relationship? It just never happened.

I shake my head. "I'm just going to stay in. I'm exhausted, especially after _somebody_ woke me up at the ass crack of dawn."

After we order the food, we lounge on the couch while flicking through the TV channels trying to find something to watch. The routine continues, including eating the food we ordered, until around five when Lissa gets up to go shower and get ready for her date.

I had to admit, I was a little jealous of her. I would love to be able to go out on a date and have an actual reason to get dressed up. It wasn't like I hadn't tried to date. The Mason thing was freshmen year of college and I went on a couple dates with some other guys after that. Junior year I had a semi-serious relationship with a guy named Jesse, but he didn't like taking things slow so I ended things. Since then, there really hasn't been anything serious aside from the occasional flirting at a bar to get free drinks.

I just didn't see the appeal in having a relationship with someone you weren't actually interested in.

After about an hour and a half later, Lissa came out of her bedroom with her hair freshly curled and wearing a baby blue floral dress with tiny white flowers dotted all over it. As usual, she looked stunning.

"So which 'ninja' are you taking with you?" I joked, flashing her a goofy smile.

Rolling her eyes, she grabs her apartment keys off the middle of the coffee table. "Spiridon, since he's assigned to me. We can't pick and choose our guard." Her eyes flash with something that looks eerily similar to when she thinks she has a good idea. "Besides, maybe Belikov will have to check on you. I'll leave the eye candy with you."

I scoff, shaking my head and watch her leave.

Sitting on the couch for a few moments, I decide to get up and change into something more comfortable than my jeans and t-shirt from the plane. I switch into an oversized t-shirt and a pair of black shorts.

I'm in the kitchen grabbing a beer when I hear a knock on the front door. I stand on my tip-toes to peek through the peephole.

Standing a bit back from the door is Dimitri, his hands behind his back and I can see him glancing up and down the hallway out of the corner of his eyes. I unlock the door and he steps closer. I'm strangely surprised to see him out of his everyday all-black suit. Never once in the two years I've known him, have I seen him look…normal.

He's wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and a black sweater that accentuates his muscles. I'm speechless and, for once, embarrassed to be caught gawking at him. "Lissa told me that you might need company while she's gone."

"Well, she didn't need to send you. I have friends I could invite over." It was harsh but I still wasn't completely enjoying his constant company. My apartment was the one place I didn't have someone watching me every single second.

Dimitri nods, looking slightly uncertain. "I figured. But I still don't think you're the type of person who enjoys being alone a lot."

He was not wrong. Stepping aside, I gesture for him to enter and he does. I grab my beer off the kitchen counter and then take a seat on the couch while Dimitri stands in the middle of the living room. "Make yourself at home, beer's in the fridge."

Taking a seat on the opposite end of the couch, he leans back and shakes his head. "No beer for me. I don't drink?"

I choke on the drink and some of the beer drips down my chin. "Really? A Russian who doesn't drink? Did you really just get exiled from there?"

A tiny smile appears on his face and he shrugs. "Not all Russians drink. That's a stereotype – like how in America, everyone likes burgers and apple pie and carries a gun."

"Okay, but who doesn't like burgers and apple pie? And," I nod towards his hip where there's a slight bulge on the right side. "A lot of Americans do conceal carry."

He looks genuinely surprised. "You could tell I was carrying?"

Shrugging, I fold my legs under me and take a sip of the beer. "It's not that hard to notice if you're actually paying attention. Also, I noticed you were right handed so I figured it'd be on your right hip – dominant hand and all." He still looks surprised. "My mom taught me how to shoot a gun. She was very adamant on me knowing how to protect myself to the full extent."

"What does your mother do that she needs to use a gun?"

"FBI. Which is one of the reasons why I have always been with Lissa. My Mom was busy a lot and she was a single parent. I scared off a lot of nannies and she got upset so Lissa's parents helped out since her and I were already best friends. They practically adopted me."

Dimitri nods, looking lost in thought. "You probably could have done worse." He comments, gesturing around us to the large apartment. It was the type of apartment that two recent college graduates could only hope to one day afford.

Nodding, I pull a fluffy white pillow into my lap after setting my beer on the coffee table. "Yeah, well, I've always wanted to repay Eric and Rhea for everything they've done for me. But it all added up over the years."

"Well, you could start repaying them by being nice to his employees."

It takes a second for me to understand the double meaning and once I do, I just shake my head at him. "I'm not mean to you!"

He looks at me like he doesn't believe me. Rude. "You always call me "Comrade" and Spiridon "Lucky Charms"."

"Okay, those are nicknames and I give everyone a nickname. It's normal for me."

And for once, I get to see a full-fledged grin! Not a smirk, not a tiny thing that disappears in two seconds, but a real smile. My stomach flutters when I see him smile and I wouldn't mind seeing him smile a lot more often. It made him even more attractive.

"So besides learning to handle a gun, did your mother ever teach you anything else?" He asked, the smile still on his face.

Shrugging, I reach for my beer and down the rest of it. "She never really taught me anything else. She believed that as long as I knew how to handle a gun, I had all the self-defense skills I needed." I looked up at him, suddenly worried. "Should I learn more?"

He shrugs. "I personally think you should. I mean, I'm using what I learned in the military along with what I learned as a bodyguard. Hand-to-hand combat is always something that I think everybody should know. Knowing how to handle a gun properly is great if it ever comes to needing to use a gun – which for you it won't – but for someone your age, I think it is important to know the basics of hand-to-hand."

"Can you teach me?" I quickly ask, suddenly thrilled by the idea.

Dimitri looks slightly conflicted. He knows he set himself up for that question and there's a part of him that wants to teach me, but there's the part of him that knows that if he does his job right he shouldn't need to teach me. He takes a deep breath and rubs the bridge of his nose. "Fine. But just the basics."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Dimitri made good on his word about teaching me and I was excited to learn. What I wasn't excited about, though, was him wanting to have practices early in the morning – like…eight in the morning.

I had complained about it the first few days of practice, but after a while, I got used to it. I would wake up at seven and throw on some workout clothes and then head down to Dimitri's apartment and wait for him. From there, the two of us would head down the street to a small gym that he had somehow managed to keep closed for a few hours so that we wouldn't be interrupted. He would have me work basic blocks and how to get out of bear hugs from behind, choke holds, and wrist grabs. He didn't go easy on me, which was very frustrating.

After a few practices, I eventually got frustrated and shoved his hand away when he went for a wrist grab. "Stop going easy on me!" He gave me a confused look and I groaned. "C'mon, comrade. You know that you're going easy on me. I've seen you shove reporters harder than you're grabbing me. I am not breakable or fragile – I want to learn how to defend myself."

He steps back, shaking his head. "These sessions are done. If I do my job, you should never have to need to defend yourself."

When he turns to grab his things, I charge at him, trying to throw him to the ground. It was a stupid thing to do – I was more than a foot shorter than him and he not only had height, but also weight and practice. He had me pinned on the floor in seconds, before I could even think about what I'd do next.

"I had you, what the hell happened?" I demanded, breathless and frustrated.

He laughs, surprising me, and shakes his head, his brown hair coming loose from the ponytail holder. Suddenly I'm very aware of how close we are. I can feel the muscles in his arms and smell his minty toothpaste. I notice how he also seems very aware of how close we are and there's a brightness in his eyes. "You're just not as good as I am, I guess."

I blink and then the next thing I know is that I'm kissing him. He leans into the kiss, his warm lips strong against mine.

His body suddenly tenses and he breaks the kiss, rolling back onto his feet and pulling me up with him. "That was inappropriate, Rose." There's a scowl on his face and I feel my stomach drop. Great. "We should get back to the apartment."

I pack up my things in silence and we head outside and start walking down the street towards the apartment complex.

Halfway there I catch the smell of coffee and fresh baked pastries and my stomach growls. I turn to head into the small café and Dimitri grabs my wrist and I feel an electrical current shoot up my arm. "What are you doing?" He asks, his hold instantly dropping.

"I'm hungry? I didn't get to eat this morning and I see chocolate croissants." He follows me into the café, looking slightly annoyed.

While I'm waiting for my breakfast sandwich, I scroll through my phone and twitter feed. Someone bumps into me, knocking the phone out of my hand and I hear a mumbled apology followed by both of us reaching for it at the same time. "I'm so, so sorry! I wasn't paying attention."

The guy hands me my phone back and he looks at me like he remembers me. "Rose? Rose Hathaway?" I stare at him in complete confusion and see Dimitri eyeing the guy up and down. From my standpoint he doesn't look threatening – blonde hair, not much taller than me and dark green eyes. Then again, I didn't beat people up for a living.

"I'm sorry, do we know each other?"

He looks offended. "Nathan," he gestures to himself. "We went to high school together?"

Still confused, I accept the bag from one of the workers. "I'm sorry…I don't remember." I feel a little bad leaving him standing there, but I'm still confused. I had never seen him before but yet he recognized me.

"Did you know him?" Dimitri asks me once we leave the café.

I shake my head. "No, but apparently I went to high school with him?" I looked up at him and he looked defensive. "Easy there, comrade. He's not a threat. I probably did go to high school with him – I just don't remember. Come to think of it, I don't remember a lot of people from high school…"

That seemed to relax him…only a little bit.

Once we were back at the apartment complex, Dimitri headed into his apartment without another word and I trudge up the steps to my apartment, moping.

I pause outside of the door to my apartment, my hand reaching for the doorknob. The door was already opened.

Lissa had spent the night with Christian at his place and I know that she wouldn't come back this early – hell, she was probably still asleep. It wasn't even ten yet.

My biggest fear was that someone was in there and that they were armed. I backed away from the door slowly and then once I reached the steps, I booked it. I ran as fast as I could down the steps and started banging on Dimitri's door.

He swung up the door, looking panicked. "Rose? What's wrong?"

"The door to my apartment's opened – Lissa's not home and I know that I locked it before we left for the gym."

Dimitri reaches his hand to his right hip, and that's when I notice he had changed into his normal work clothes – dark jeans, a dark t-shirt and a holster with his gun. He pulls the gun from his hip and holds it in front of him, turning the safety off. He starts towards the stairs, placing himself in front of me. "Stand behind me." He orders and I don't argue.

We head up the steps and I'm holding my breath, trying not to breathe too loudly. I'm amazed at how quiet Dimitri is.

Once we reach my room, he nudges the door opened slightly and then turns to look at me, keeping the gun up in front of him. "Stay here." And then he disappears into the apartment. He comes out a few seconds later, placing the gun back in its holster. "There's nobody in there, doesn't look like anything was taken, either." His expression softens. "I can stay with you until Vasilisa gets home."

I shake my head, stepping past him into the apartment. "It's fine. I'm just going to shower and then maybe take a nap."

"Rose…" Dimitri starts to speak again, but I slowly shut the door.

"It's fine. I'm fine, Dimitri." I shut the door and I know that he's going to be staking the outside of the door, making sure nobody tries to break in.

After my shower, I change into yoga capris and a gray tank top. I plop down onto the couch in the living room, flicking on the television. Left alone to wallow in self-pity, I feel the sting of rejection from earlier.

I knew it was stupid and inappropriate of me to kiss Dimitri, but I couldn't help it. And he had kissed me back, which made the sting hurt even more.

Lissa returned home a few hours later, close to lunch time and seemed to be in an amazing mood, so I didn't bother telling her about the door being opened.

"So how'd your training session go today?" She asks, taking a seat on the couch next to me.

I shrug, picking at my cuticles. "Fine. But Dimitri decided to end them. He believes that as long as he's around and doing his job, I don't need to learn anything." She doesn't look surprised, which is slightly confusing, but I shrug it off. "And I may have…kissed him."

"Rose!" She exclaimed. "He's not here for you to make-out with him!" She chastises me and I roll my eyes. "Just…whatever you do, don't let it interfere with the real reason he's here – to protect you."

"Yeah, I know. I doubt anything else is going to go on, he seemed upset about the kiss." I sigh. "So how was your date night with Christian?

A smile lights up her face and I almost groan for asking the question without thinking. "It was great. We went out to dinner and then went back to his apartment for a movie." She trailed off after that and I knew the reason why. I couldn't believe I was actually jealous of my best friend's sex life. It was a strange feeling. "Oh, and Uncle Victor called. He's going to be in town and he wants to take us to dinner." Victor wasn't actually her uncle, but he had been an extremely close friend with her parents and had treated her like part of his family. He had a daughter himself, Natalie, whom I was not a huge fan of – she was too peppy and bright, a little awkward and worshipped Lissa and I. It was annoying.

"When?" I didn't have a problem going to dinner with her uncle, but if Natalie was involved, I was going to have to fake being sick. Or maybe even fake my own death.

She shrugs. "Probably tomorrow night. He gets in early tomorrow morning." Her phone rings and from the look on her face, I know that it's Christian calling. She gets up and heads to her bedroom, shutting the door behind her.

I was extremely annoyed by my mopping and feeling sorry for myself right now. I grabbed my cell phone and searched for Mason's number. I clicked his name and pressed the phone against my ear.

He picked up on the second ring. "Have you finally decided to declare your love for me?" I can hear the laughter in his voice and it brings a smile to my face.

"Yeah right, Ashford. In your dreams." I laugh. "I was wondering if you weren't busy tonight, if you wanted to go out? To a bar? I need a few drinks."

"I'm up for it. But the question is – are you going to bring your bodyguard? Because that might cause a bit of a scene." He was right, of course. I knew it was a stupid idea to leave him behind, but I didn't really want to be around him right now. Add my bitterness with some alcohol? Yeah, that wouldn't be pretty.

Finally, I say, "I can ditch him. Meet me at Scotty's at seven?" That gave me less than six hours to come up with a reason to ditch Dimitri and hopefully he didn't try and stick Spiridon on me.

He hangs up and I head downstairs to Dimitri's apartment. I knock on the door and Dimitri opens the door. "Hey, my mom's in town and I was going to go see her later tonight."

"Do you need me to come along?" He asks.

"No, I should be fine. I won't be out too late and she's staying not too far from here."

Dimitri looks like he wants to argue, wants to do his job. But he also knows that if anybody else could watch over me, it'd be my mother. She is in the FBI and to him, that was reason enough not to argue over this.

Later on I start to get ready. I throw on a pair of black jeans, black combat boots and a tight red blouse. I keep my hair down, running a brush through the dark waves and then for once, I actually do my makeup.

My cab pulls up in front of Scotty's bar around seven-fifteen and I see a familiar head of messy red and head up to where he's standing in front of the window. "Look who ditched her loyal dog!" Mason pulls me into a bear hug and I laugh.

"Yeah, well, I used the mom card."

He laughs and pulls me into the bar after him. Waiting for us at the bar are a few of Mason's friends and he introduces me to them. After that, the drinks start coming.

Normally when I drink, I'm pretty good at keeping track of how many drinks I've had and how many it'll take for me to get drunk. But tonight, I don't keep track and before I know it, I start to feel really, really good. The room also starts to take on a slight tilt.

After a few more drinks, I notice a guy taking a seat next to me. He's not familiar and through the drunken haze, it actually looks kind of cute. Dark hair and lots of muscles. He kind of reminded me of Dimitri – except he wasn't as tall and when he spoke, it wasn't with a sexy Russian accent.

"Can I buy you a drink?" He asks and even drunk, I could tell this guy was a douche. He just had that vibe to him.

But I wasn't about to turn down free alcohol. "Obviously." I stammer out, laughing.

After our drinks are ready, he starts to ask me about my life, trying to make small talk. And then he puts his hand on my thigh.

I stiffen and put my drink down. Grabbing his hand, I shove it off of my thigh. "Please don't." I start to hop off of my stool, but he grabs my upper arm tightly. "Dude…let go." I try and yank my arm away but can't.

"Now is that how you treat a nice guy that just bought you drinks?" He asks, his teeth clenched.

I stare at him in disgust, breathing deeply to keep the room from spinning too fast. "A nice guy doesn't manhandle a woman. Now, if you don't let go I will hurt you."

He doesn't want to call my bluff. His mistake. I wind up my free arm and then let me arm snap forward, punching him square in the face – a satisfying crunch followed and he lets go of my arm to grab his nose. "Ah, bitch!" He hisses, grabbing a handful of napkins to stop the bleeding.

Amazingly we don't draw too much attention, just a few bystanders – Mason and his friends are some of them. Mason stands next to me, making sure I'm okay, and then looks at the guy. "Damn, Hathaway. I knew you were a badass but seriously? You broke his nose!" He sounded impressed and I felt pride well up in my chest.

We turn around to rejoin his group, but I'm suddenly yanked backwards and the guy's hand blurs in front of me as the palm of his hand connects with my cheek. "Shit!" I gasp, tasting blood – I bit my lip when he slapped me.

One second he was slapping me and then the next a whole bunch of guys were on top of him, yanking him in every direction, trying to get him away from me. Mason got in a few good punches to the gut.

I start to head towards the bathroom to clean up when I feel someone grab my shoulder and I don't know if I can fight, when I turn around and see Dimitri. Great.

He looks like he's about to yell at me, but then he sees my face and pulls me out of the bar. "Wait…I have to go tell Mason!" I break hold of his grasp and see Mason standing outside against the wall, surrounded by his friends. They were all kicked out after attacking the asshole that hit me. Surprisingly he didn't have any scratches on him. "My hero." I sigh when I reach him.

Mason smirks, shrugging. "What can I say? I'm always here to help…" He focuses on something over my shoulder. "Except from your guard dog. Good luck with that." I hugged him goodbye and promised to meet up with him another day.

Dimitri steers me towards the black Suburban parked across the street and opens the door for me. He walks around to his side and climbs in, shutting the door. He sits there, staring out ahead of us, not starting the car. Finally, he speaks up, "What the hell were you thinking?" He sounded both annoyed and frustrated. "Do you really think I wouldn't know where you were going? That I would believe you were going to see your mother – who you have not had contact with in years?"

Damn. I hadn't fooled him. And here I thought I had been successful for once.

After he's done his rant, he glances over at me. "What happened?" He scowls, reaching over the center console to gingerly grip my chin in his hand. He turns my head slightly to the side. "Someone hit you…" His touch sends a shock through my body.

"Yeah, well, I punched him first." I look at him, trying to smile. "Broke his nose."

There was a brief flash of pride in his eyes and he almost smiled. "Did anything else happen?" I shake my head and he leans over me, reaching into the glove box. He pulls out a small pack of tissues and hands them to me. "Are you okay? Besides being drunk?"

"I'm not drunk." I grumble, pressing a tissue to the cut on my lip and wincing. "And I'm fine. He only slapped me and I bit my lip. Nothing that'll ruin my amazing face." When I glance over at him, there's a hint of a smile and I feel a little better.

It isn't until we're halfway back to the apartment that I finally realize he had known where to find me. "Hey, how did you figure out where I was?" I tossed the used tissue out the window, earning a look of disapproval from Dimitri.

"Your phone." He nods to where it's settled on the top of my thigh. "There's a tracker in it."

 _Mother…!_ "You track where I am?!" Having to follow me around all day was one thing, but using my phone to keep track of me? That was definitely something I was not comfortable with.

He nods, keeping his attention on the road. "Mr. Dragomir had us do it when he first hired us. I'm actually quite surprised that you hadn't figured that out." I drop my head back against the headrest. Dimitri glances at me. "Are you angry?"

"Yes! No! I don't know, I'm angrier about the fact that I didn't catch on. I didn't think he would ever think to do something like that."

Just then Dimitri's cell phone rings and he presses it to his ear. "Belikov." In a split second his entire body language changes, his posture stiff and eyes focused. He pulls over to the side of the road, causing my body to knock against the door. I rub my arm and look at him, worried. "Did you see who dropped it off?" The person on the opposite end of the line speaks again and Dimitri looks up at me. "We're less than five minutes away. No, keep her with you and don't leave the apartment."

 _Her. Her! Lissa!_ "What happened to Lissa?" I ask, panicked. "Is she okay? Dimitri, what happened?!" He won't answer me; he just pulls back onto the road after hanging up the phone.

Once we pulled in front of the apartment complex, I threw myself out of the car – stupid idea, seeing as I could barely walk properly. I stumbled, but regained my balance by placing my hand against the window.

Dimitri walked around the side of the vehicle and looked at me, making sure I was okay. "You good?" I nodded, the world around me finally stopped spinning. His hand rested on my shoulder as we headed inside, his hand steering me towards his apartment. "Don't go upstairs."

He ushers me into his apartment and I see Lissa sitting on the couch and Spiridon pacing by the kitchen, phone pressed to his ear. "Liss!" I cry out in relief, throwing myself into her arms. "What happened? Why aren't we in our apartment?"

Lissa helped sit me down on the couch, undoubtedly smelling the alcohol on me – her look of disapproval said so – and she shrugged. "I don't know. After you left, I went to grab some food and when I came back the apartment door was open and there was a box left on the coffee table. I ran down to Spiridon and then he called Dimitri and I was told to stay here." She glances over her shoulder at the two men. "I think he's on the phone with the police."

"Why would he need to call the police?" I ask, my stomach churning with anxiety.

She shrugs, brushing her blonde hair behind her ears. "I don't know. The box was unmarked, someone had obviously broken in."

I stared at the floor, trying to figure out if the earlier break in from this morning was related to this or not. It couldn't just be a coincidence that someone had managed to get into our apartment twice in one day. Not with our security system – not with our security guards.

When I looked up at Dimitri, trying to figure out whether or not he was thinking the same thing. When we made eye contact, I could tell he did.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Dimitri and Spiridon were on the phone with the local police department for a while now, and apparently they were sending a few patrol cars over.

Meanwhile, Lissa and I just sat on the couch and tried not to freak out.

After the cops arrived and spoke with Dimitri, they left not too long after that, giving us the all clear for the apartment. They told us there were no signs of forced entrance and none of the windows had been broken. Nobody knew how the package got into the apartment.

Once the police left, Dimitri and Spiridon stepped out of ear shot, leaving Lissa and I confused and staring after them. When they came back out, they stood next to each other, looking between Lissa and myself.

Spiridon glanced at Dimitri and then focused back on us. "Even with the all clear from the police and the security system rebooted, we still don't feel like it's safe for you two to be in the apartment by yourselves." He crossed his arms over his chest. "So we're going to head out to a secure location until we get this problem resolved and find out who delivered that package."

"Can we know where we're going?" Lissa asked.

Dimitri shook his head. "We can't risk you telling one of your friends. Everyone at this point is a threat." He looked like he wanted to apology, but kept his composure.

I didn't try and argue with either of them – as much as I wanted to. I knew that Lissa's safety was important, no matter how unfair our exile might be. I didn't want her to be in harm's way and I knew that whoever was breaking in to our apartment was after her and not me. And if she got hurt, I didn't know what would happen to me.

They instructed the both of us to go and pack a bag, both of them following us up the stairs. Dimitri took post inside the apartment while Spiridon stood outside.

I was done packing before Lissa – she had asked if it was okay to at least tell Christian that she was going away for a bit and would call when she could. Dimitri gave her an okay, but not to disclose anything. I stood out in the living room with Dimitri and he glanced at me when I dropped my bags onto the floor.

"I'm surprised you didn't throw a fit about having to leave." He remarks, still looking at me.

Shrugging, I cross my arms over my chest. "It didn't seem worth it, I knew it wouldn't make a difference. Besides, I don't want anything to happen to Lissa. If we stayed because I didn't want to leave, I would've hated myself if anything, _anything_ , happened to her."

He stares at me, raising his eyebrows. "You're amazing."

My chest suddenly feels warm and his dark brown eyes soften. I start to reach my hand towards his, surprised at him not pulling away or chastising me even when he looks down, when Lissa comes out of her room with her bags. "Okay, I'm ready to go." She says, looking at the two of us just as I snap my hand back down against my leg.

We're ushered out of the complex and towards a waiting black SUV.

We spend a few hours in the car, only stopping for gas and then we're back on the road. Lissa and I spend the time talking and trying to keep from freaking out.

I know that if I'm freaking out on the inside, so is Lissa. Except, Lissa has never been great at hiding her emotions – she's easily readable, at least to me. I want to reassure her that everything will be fine and that the two goons are just taking extra precautions, but I'm not so sure myself. I wish I could reassure her.

Finally, we pull into a small neighborhood with…big houses. The houses were closer to mansions than houses, each one taking up a large plot of land. It looked like the neighborhood was still in the process of being built, only about eight houses were completed, with about six of them currently being lived in.

We pull up in front of one of the houses and the two men climb out of the car, both of them glancing around as Lissa and I climb out. Spiridon walks behind us into the house and Dimitri is right behind him with our bags.

"Can we finally know where the hell we are?" I ask, glancing at Dimitri.

He places our bags at the bottom of the steps and crosses his arms over his chest. "We're close to Spokane. The house is up to date on the latest security system, there are trip cameras set up around the perimeter. It is highly unlikely anyone will get past this system." I start to believe that his explanation is to reassure himself, but then I see Lissa visibly relax and realize it might be to try and calm the two of us as well. "There are plenty of bedrooms upstairs, the two of you can choose whichever one you like."

Spiridon and Dimitri head off into the kitchen to discuss things that apparently Lissa and I are not allowed to hear.

I roll my eyes and head up the stairs. Once at the top of the steps, the hallway breaks off into two sections on the right and the left. Lissa and I head to the right and it looks like there's only two bedrooms in this hall – one door on either side of the hall. I assume the same goes for the hallway to the left of the stairs and once I open the door to the room I claim and understand why there are only two bedrooms here – my room is gigantic.

It's probably the size of the apartment Lissa and I had. There was a queen sized bed against the furthest wall, a dresser against the wall closest to the door and then on the other side of the dresser was another door – private bathroom.

The bathroom was amazing, with a waterfall shower and a large Jacuzzi-type bathtub. This room was like a dream and I was slightly less angry about having to hide out. I could deal with being locked up here.

There was a knock at my door and Dimitri stepped into the room. "Everything okay?" He asks, eyeing me carefully.

I nod, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. "Any way I could get a TV, maybe a couch?"

It was meant to be a joke, but Dimitri nodded. "We have someone bringing over some things that I thought you and Lissa would want for your rooms."

He takes a seat next to me and sighs, something I'm not used to hearing from him – unless it was a frustrated sigh, which I was used to hearing since I was the one who made him sigh. "I know this is terrible for you and I am so sorry that this is happening."

When he looked at me, I felt like I was going to cry. My eyes burned and I felt choked up. I duck my head, letting my hair cover my face like a curtain. "Why feel sorry for me? The person isn't after me."

Dimitri's hand brushes my hair away from my face and his touch sends an electric shock through me. His hand then cups the side of my face and I close my eyes, enjoying the warmth of his touch. "Please don't do this…" I whisper, my heart clenching in my chest.

"Do what?" His voice is soft and warm and I feel safe.

I grab his hand and take it from my face, but twist my fingers through his, not wanting to let go. "This. Don't touch me like that – all…caring. Not if you're going to push me away. You think the kiss was inappropriate?" I hold up our hands. "This isn't any better." I give him a sad smile.

He looks momentarily hurt, but he doesn't untangle our hands. "But it's easier."

I laugh, shaking my head. "And how is it any easier, Comrade?"

"I can keep my distance."

"Ouch." I murmur, frowning. My chest feels tight, his words leaving a stinging behind.

Dimitri looks at me and realizes what he said. "I didn't mean it like that. I care about you, Roza. But my job requires that I not get too close to you. I could get distracted and lose focus and slip up."

 _Roza_.

"Your job is to watch over me. Protect me. How will being with me distract you from that?" I'm so confused and slightly annoyed.

He smiles at me. "You are a very distracting person." He sighs again, shaking his head. "I never wanted any of this to happen. I never planned on anything like this happening. I always thought that this position would just be a job. I didn't plan on meeting you and feeling…this way towards you."

"But it happened." I remark.

He nods and smiles sadly. "But it's inappropriate."

I throw my hands up in annoyance. "Who cares? It's none of their business! What the two of us do when you're not on duty is nobody's business!" I exclaim, hoping to talk some sense into him or to convince him.

"I'm always on duty." He replies and I groan, flopping onto my back on the bed. I cover my face with my elbows, annoyed. "Rose…" Dimitri tries to pry my arms off of my face but I don't let him. "I'm sorry, but you deserve someone who you can actually be with."

After he does a thorough background check and has to follow me on every single date that I go on? God, that'd be so awkward!

But I can't imagine it – I can't imagine myself going on a date with anyone but him. I can't imagine laying in someone else's arms at night without that person having brown eyes, brown hair and a Russian accent. It's impossible and I want it.

"I don't want someone else…" I murmur into my arm.

Dimitri sighs again and the bed shifts and he's moved closer to me. This time he uses his strength to move my arms, forcing them away from my face. His touch sends an electric pulse through my arm and I want to kick myself. "Rose." His voice is full of authority and I look at him, finally. His gaze holds mine and my stomach curls. "You deserve someone who can be with you without knowing the things I know – worrying about the things I worry about. You deserve to have a family."

I laugh humorlessly. "Yeah, well, even if I deserve a family I'm not getting one." He looks at me curiously. "I can't have kids." It wasn't something I enjoyed talking about. The only person who knew besides my mother was Lissa. It wasn't something you bragged about.

"Oh, Roza." His voice was wrapping around me like a safety blanket, warm. His dark eyes were sad and I could see him arguing with himself internally.

And then he was kissing me. He had taken me by surprise by kissing me and it sent a thrill through me. One hand twisted through my hair and the other wrapped around my waist, pulling me on top of him. My legs were on either side of him and the palms of my hands were pressed into the mattress next to his head.

And then a knock sounded at the door.

Rolling off of Dimitri, he shoots up with blinding speed, surprising me. I quickly fix my hair and pull my shirt down past my stomach.

"Come in." Dimitri speaks, looking casual – or as casual as he normally does in his black suit.

Spiridon steps into the room, looking worried. "We have a problem…" His eyes flicker to me and then back to Dimitri.

They both sweep out of the room and I groan, flopping onto my stomach on the bed. My stomach is in knots – partly from the make out session with Dimitri and partly from Spiridon talking about a problem.

As I'm moping on my bed, I hear my phone vibrating on the dresser. Getting up, I walk over and grab it, surprised to see Mason's name as the Caller ID.

"Hey, Mason."

There's some white noise on his side of the line and then I hear him. "Rose!" His voice sounds panicked and tired. "Rose, help me. I need help." Someone's yelling at him on his side and I feel like my heart is going to pound out of my chest with fear. "Last night…someone grabbed me. I don't know where I'm at. Please help me!" His voice cuts off and someone else replaces him. "Rose Hathaway. You wanna save your friend? You and the Dragomir girl better show up here within the next twenty-four hours."

I'm frozen in place. I can't make my muscles move for a few seconds. And then I hear his voice, begging for help, and I drop my cell phone on the floor and fly out of the bedroom. Tearing down the hallway, I throw open the first door I come across and Dimitri stares at me, confused and worried. "Rose…we need to talk."

"Mason! Mason's in trouble!" My heart's pounding and I don't like the idea of standing here, doing nothing.

Dimitri glances back at Spiridon – who is standing in front of a bunch of computers and TV screens with different areas of the house appearing on it. "How did you know?"

I stare at him, dumbfounded. "You knew?!" I accuse.

He rubs the back of his neck. "We just found out. Whoever took him was the same one who broke into your apartment."

"Then we need to go get him!" I wasn't going to tell him that whoever had Mason, wanted Lissa and I. He would never let me out of his sight if he knew about it.

His eyes narrowed. "There is no 'we', Rose. We dispatched some of the local patrol cars and they're on their way to a location that pinged off the cell phone that called you." I'm gaping at him. "You really think that we wouldn't monitor your calls?"

"That's an invasion of privacy!" I'm not as annoyed as I expected, but still.

Dimitri shakes his head. "We only started recently. We don't hear the conversations, but we can keep track of the numbers. But the main point is that you are not leaving this house. It's the safest place we know and letting you out is too dangerous."

I glare at him, angry. "My friend is in danger! He could be killed because of me!"

And then it hit me – this really wasn't about Lissa, at least not entirely. This person wanted the both of us – wanted me. Mason was in trouble because of me. He might die because of me. My stomach clenched tightly and I felt like my legs were going to give out under me, the world tilting slightly.

"Rose?" Dimitri's voice sounds muffled, like I have pillows pressing against my ears.

I couldn't focus on his voice – on him. I couldn't focus on anything. My hands were shaking and I could feel my heartbeat in my throat.

A panic attack. I was having a panic attack!

Dimitri's hands wrapped around my arms and he shook me, trying to get my attention. I shoved away from him, wrapping my arms around my sternum and dropping to my knees.

"What the hell?" A higher pitched voice exclaims from behind me. Probably Lissa. "What's going on?!" She demands.

Her thin arms are suddenly around me, holding me against her. My panic starts to subside; it's still there, but it's slowly disappearing. "Mason…Mason is…he's being…" I can't form a proper sentence, I can't think straight, I can't do anything. I felt like I was hyperventilating.

"Mason Ashford was taken by the same people we believe who are after the two of you." Spiridon speaks up, having to speak over my hysterics.

Turning to look at him, I see Dimitri standing next to him. Dimitri's eyes are wide with worry, focused on me. Spiridon is still explaining everything to Lissa – explaining how they plan to locate and rescue Mason. But I can only focus on Dimitri.

Lissa somehow manages to pull me to my feet and then drags me down the hall, back to my bedroom. I sit in the middle of the bed, folding my legs pretzel style, and Lissa sits on the edge of the bed.

I feel a little better. The hysterics have subsided and I can breathe again. She brushes a strand of dark hair out of my face, and gives me a sad smile. "Rose, I'm so sorry about Mason. But I trust Spiridon and Dimitri. I know that they'll do everything in their power to get him back."

There's a knock at the door and Dimitri is standing in the doorframe, his face a mask of seriousness.

Glancing at Lissa, I find my voice again. "Can you get me some water, Lis?" I ask and she nods, excusing herself.

Dimitri steps into the room, closing the door. "How are you feeling?" The earlier worry is back and I wonder if he's even trying to hide it, or if he doesn't care – he's generally worried for me.

"I'm fine." I lie.

He rolls his eyes, shaking his head. "You're a terrible liar."

"What do you want me to say?" I snap, angry. "That I'm okay with one of my friends being kidnapped because of me? Or that I'm fine with the possibility he might not walk away? That you might not find him?" My stomach clenches and I feel sick. I know the last comment was a hit below the belt to Dimitri, but it was too late to take it back now.

Lissa comes back and Dimitri glances between the two of us before turning and walking away. Before he turned, though, I caught a glimpse of his eyes – they were burning with something…but he was gone before I could figure it out.

"They'll find him." Lissa reassures me, handing me a cold bottle of water.

Shaking my head, I look up at her. "No, they won't. But I can."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"You're insane!" Lissa exclaims, shaking her head. "You can't go find him!"

"Why the hell not?" I'm slightly offended that she doesn't believe in me.

She laughs humorlessly and drops her hands onto her lap with a loud smack, exasperated. "Well for starters you'll never make it past all of the security members. And then if you somehow manage to do that – which you won't – you have no way of actually getting to where he's located."

And then her face drops and her eyes narrow. "Please do not tell me you're planning on stealing a car, Rose! You know they have trackers in them!"

Of course, that was something I had considered since coming up with my partial plan. I knew that the cars had trackers in them, just like my phone did. I was counting on that. I knew that the minute I disappeared from the house and they heard me driving away, they'd be tracking me right away. I was planning on it.

That wasn't to say that they would get to me in time, but if anything, they would get there in time to save Mason. That was what counted.

"Lis, I need your help. Please. Just…distract them or something to give me enough time to sneak out my window and get to one of the cars. I need to help Mason." I stared into her big, emerald green eyes, begging.

She finally agreed, and I knew she would.

After filling her in on my plan, she left the room and told me to be ready to go in ten minutes. I hugged her tightly, dreading having to let go. I knew that whoever had Mason wanted the two of us, but they were going to have to settle on just me. They were not going to lay a finger on Lissa, I wouldn't allow it.

Once she's left, I hurry and change into a pair of black leggings, a black tank top, throwing a dark navy hoodie over top and then lacing up my black combat boots. I twist my hair into a ponytail on top of my head. My phone's in my hand and I'm sitting on the window ledge, having opened the window to get out quicker. I really wish I had access to a weapon, but I knew asking for a knife or a gun would draw unnecessary attention.

My phone pings with a message from Lissa

 _Get out! Now! Dimitri is heading your way!_

At this point, I can hear his pounding feet on the floor, quickly heading my way. I swing my legs out the open window and take a deep breath. My bedroom door flies open and Dimitri stands, staring at me, his eyes wide.

"Rose, stop!" He demands, and I fix him one last glance before dropping from my open window. I drop onto the balls of my feet, hoping to avoid major injuries, and then manage a forward roll to soften the impact. "Rose!" Dimitri yells from the open window.

I search the dark ground beneath me for the car keys and once my hands touch them, I grab them, stand up and run towards the only remaining car.

The car's screeching out of the driveway by the time Dimitri and Spiridon are out the door. I speed off, trying to drown out the voices behind me and focus on the dark, empty street in front of me.

Once I'm a pretty good distance away from the street, I pull off to the side of the road and pull out my phone. There's a set of coordinates on the front screen, a message from whoever has Mason. With shaking hands, I type the coordinates into the GPS and then pull back out on the road and follow the directions.

Forty-five minutes later, I pull off the highway and follow the directions through a neighborhood and pull off to the side of the road in front of the house where the GPS instructs me to. It's a tiny rancher and looks like it can barely fit more than ten people in it.

Seconds later, a text pops up on my phone, instructing me to take the car that I'm parked behind. It's a nondescript, black dodge and my throat feels thick. A follow up text orders me to leave my phone in this car.

How was Dimitri going to find me with that car and no phone?

Climbing out, I open the door to the dodge and reach above me into the visor for the keys. There's a silver flip phone on the passenger's seat and it starts to ring as soon as I start the car.

"I'm disappointed in you Rose. I expected you to listen to me. Vasilisa isn't with you." The voice sighs, like I'm a child who said a bad word, sending a shiver down my spine. It's a familiar voice, but one I can't place. Not with my mind racing. "Although, I do believe I can take care of her after you…she won't be too hard to get a hold of. I know ways to coerce her."

My free hand grips the leather steering wheel tightly, my knuckles turning pale white. "If you think you're getting anywhere near her, you're an idiot. You'll be lucky to live after today."

The voice 'tsks' and I want to strangle whoever is doing this. "There's an address already entered into the GPS. I so look forward to seeing you again, Rosemarie."

As soon as the call ends, I throw the phone onto the pavement enjoying the sight of the smashed bits on the sidewalk. I pull out onto the main road, earning a honk from the car behind me that I apparently cut off. Oh well.

Another thirty minutes later, I'm pulling into an abandoned parking lot surrounding an apartment complex that also appears to be abandoned.

Shutting the car off, I pocket the keys and shut the door. I look around, feeling a little anxious because of the dark. Nothing good happens in the dark.

"Took you long enough." A voice says, making me jump. Leaning against one wall of the building, a lone figure stands. The figure steps out and I instantly recognize him as the guy I bumped into in the bakery after my morning practice with Dimitri. Okay, so he knew me. How the hell did he know me? "You know…I never actually believed that you'd show up alone. I thought you'd have your guard dog with you, maybe a few more guard dogs. But the boss? Nah, he said that you would show up alone. That you weren't stupid. Well…" He smirks at me, twirling a knife in his hands. "except for the small fact that you're missing one body."

"What the hell do you want?" I hiss, clenching my hands into fists.

He shrugs. "From you? Nothing. I'm just doing as I'm told until I get my money." He stalks forward and holds the knife out in front of him in a threatening manner. If I try to run or hurt him, he'll use it. "Now let's go."

Tugging my arm harshly, he shoves me towards the building and in through an opened door. We bypass the dirty, graffiti-tagged lobby and turn left down a hallway.

He bangs on the first door on the left and it opens, revealing a large burly man with a bald head. He glances at the two of us and then steps aside to let us in.

This room is oddly well kept for an abandoned building. The mahogany desk looks shiny and new, the black chair with its back to me looks new and the floors are swept. What the hell?

"Rosemarie, how I've missed your darling face." The same shiver that I felt earlier runs down my spine again and I feel cold all over. The chair turns around and there's an older gentleman sitting in it. Late sixties, graying hair and dark circles under his bright green eyes. The same eyes as Lissa. "Although I am so disappointed I won't be seeing Vasilisa right away." He gives me a smile and I feel bile rise in my throat.

"You?" I spit out, glaring at him. "You're the one who's been following us? The one who wants Lissa? You're her uncle!" Her uncle. The same man who was there for her when her parents died. The same man who treated me like his own niece. "I can't believe you're the one behind this, Victor."

He shrugs nonchalantly. "If you paid attention you might have been able to pick up on it. But you don't really enjoy paying close attention to anything – well, besides that attractive bodyguard you have. What's his name? Dimitri?" My heart lurches and I fight back tears.

"Why are you doing this? And why take Mason?"

Standing up, he reaches for a cane leaning against the desk and slowly makes his way over. I wonder if his henchmen feel stupid for taking orders from someone they could knock on his ass in seconds? "You and Lissa were simply in the way, Rose. And taking the boy was a surefire way of getting to you. Empty threats have never really had an effect on you."

"In the way of what?" I spit at him. I want to reach out and strangle him, but the blonde from outside has both my arms twisted behind my back rather painfully.

"Money. I was supposed to inherit the Dragomirs' fortunes once Eric, Rhea and their children were out of the way. But then of course, you and Lissa were never in the car when the…accident happened. I thought I would only have to get rid of Lissa after their deaths, but then I found out that Eric and Rhea left the other half of their fortune…to you." He narrows his eyes at me. "Out of everyone…they leave it to you."

My mouth pops open in surprise. I knew Lissa's dad had left bodyguards for me and paid for my school, but leaving half their fortune to me?

Composing myself, I try to wipe the surprise off my face. "I want to see Mason. I want to know that he's alive."

Victor smiles again, an ugly curl of the lips, and then he nods behind me. "Take her to him, Nathan. She won't try anything. She's smarter than that."

Turning me around, Nathan shoves me again, forcing me to walk forwards. We turn towards the elevators and step on as soon as the doors open. I expect to go up, but he pushes the button for the basement. Fantastic. I'm surprised the elevator actually works. I'm pretty sure they can track electricity usage and if they can do that…

My thoughts are interrupted by Nathan shoving me off the elevator into the cold, dreary basement. The floors and walls are gray cement and I expect to be let go, but he turns me and we head down a small hallway to the left. There's a single door at the end made of steel. Or iron. I don't know.

He opens it and then shoves me inside, closing it behind me. My arms are freed and I stretch them in front of me. "Rose…?" A weak voice startles me and I glance around the darkened room – it's the same as the other part of the basement. Gray cement floors and walls. "Oh God, Rose. What did you do?"

"Mason!" I exclaim, feeling relief flood through me. I race to where he's huddled in the corner and gasp when I see his face. He's in bad shape – he has a cut above his eyebrow, near his hairline and one on his lip that looks fresh. There's some bruising surrounding his right eye and his left cheek looks just as bruised. When he sits up, he winces and grabs ahold of his ribs. I close my eyes, fighting off bile. "I'm so glad that you're okay." I lightly brush the stray hair out of his face, being careful to avoid touching him unnecessarily. "Don't worry, I'm going to find a way out of here."

He shakes his head, closing his eyes and focusing on his labored breathing. "It's pointless, Rose."

"No it's…" The door to the room opens up and Victor enters.

Anger floods through my body and I want to throw myself at Victor and strangle him to death. End this. But his henchmen are right behind him. Goddammit, why couldn't Dimitri have trained me for this?!

Victor finally speaks. "Well I am so glad that the two of you got to see each other again. It must be nice to be able to say goodbye one last time."

The henchmen make their way over to us and both of them grab either of my arms, yanking me away from Mason. I kick at the air, trying to get loose. "Let me down you big jackasses!" I scream at them and watch helplessly as Victor makes his way closer to Mason. No. No!

"You should be happy, Rose." He speaks again, turning to face me. "You succeeded in saving his life." He pulls a small revolver out of his coat pocket. "Too bad you didn't do exactly as I said."

And then he shoots Mason in the stomach. I scream and thrash against the henchmen's grip until they finally drop me as Victor leaves, following behind him.

I run to Mason's side, pressing my hand against the bullet wound. "Mason…don't go. Please, stay. I'm going to get us out of this. We can do it. You can make it. You're strong." I'm talking through my tears and trying to keep pressure against the wound to stop the bleeding. I pull his head into my lap and then take his hand with my free hand. "Mason…please." I sob.

"Rose…" Mason coughs, wincing in pain.

"No. No, you stay with me Mason. Stay with me!" I squeeze his hand tightly and press against the bullet wound harder, ignoring his pained expression.

Time passes slowly and my grip on Mason's hand loosens, cramping. I'm using all of my energy to focus on keeping the pressure on the wound, but my arms are starting to tighten and grow weak. No. Just a little bit longer. Dimitri had to be here soon, right? He probably implanted a tracker in my tooth or something. He'll know where I am, right?

Mason's breathing has grown shallow and labored, his face his pale white and his eyes are barely opened. How long have we been sitting here? Two hours? Four?

But eventually I can tell that I'm not doing any good in keeping pressure on his wound. I watch as his breathing grows slower and slower and there's nothing I can do. I can't stop the bleeding, he's already lost too much blood and I couldn't help him. Goddammit. "Mason…" My voice barely more than a whisper, the tears starting up again. "I'm so sorry." I apologize, pressing my forehead to his sweaty forehead.

His hand drops from mine, his breathing slowly stops and his eyes flutter closed.

I let the sobs take over my body, gripping Mason's shirt tightly in my fists. I want to scream and thrash and kill Victor and every one of his henchmen. I want to watch him bleed out in front of me. He should be the one dead – not Mason. I hunch over, pressing my forehead to Mason's and holding him tightly, almost like I'm trying to force some semblance of life into him.

Mason's gone. He's gone and it's because of me. He was shot because of me.

I don't think anyone has ever hated themselves as much as I hate myself. I deserve to die. Victor should just kill me and take whatever fortune the Dragomirs left to me. He won't have to touch Lissa or anyone else I care about. Dimitri…

Oh, God. I didn't even think about Dimitri. I know he's probably freaking the hell out right now, blaming my escape on himself. He had one job – to look after me – and I got away. I threw myself into the hands of the enemy, ignoring his warnings. I told him that I had feelings for him, at least. At least I would go knowing that I told him how I felt about him, no matter how much I downplayed the truth. He would know that I cared about him.

Leaning back against the cold cement wall, I keep Mason's head propped in my lap, and close my eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

I'm woken up by cold water being splashed all over my body. I yelp and am suddenly standing on my feet, blinking the water and sleep from my eyes and trying to remember where I am.

S _ome building. You drove here to save Mason. Mason's dead._

Victor's standing a few feet in front of me, two henchmen standing behind them – one of them holding the bucket of water. I glare at him, wanting to slam the bucket against his temple as hard as I can.

And then I notice a limp body in the corner, sprawled rather uncomfortably and Mason isn't at my feet anymore. Someone moved him. Someone touched him.

I look back at Victor and everything around him turns red. All I see his red and my hands start to shake from the anger. "What the hell do you want?"

Victor's arms are crossed over his chest and he's wearing a goddamn sneer on his face and I want to slap him. I stay put. "I thought you'd like to see something. Come." He orders and starts to walk out the door. I expect to head to the elevator, but we turn left out the door and there's a table set up with computer screens and monitors on it. "Sit, sit." Victor pats the metal chair in front of the table and every cell in my body is screaming at me that having my back to him is a terrible, terrible idea.

"No thanks. I'd rather stand, feeling a little stiff." I cross my arms over my sodden chest and try to stifle the shivers.

One of the henchmen hits a button on the keyboard and the biggest screen in the center changes to an unfamiliar picture. It's of the first house I had been at, when I'd switched cars. The black SUV is still there, but surrounding the car are a few police officers and FBI agents. _FBI!_ I recognize Spiridon talking to one of the agents and then I see Dimitri's tall frame, leaning over something on the hood of the SUV, wearing a bulletproof vest. My stomach drops and I want to scream. "Your boyfriend is pretty impressive when it comes to tracking you." Victor speaks up, and I lock my jaw in place to keep from snapping at him. "I didn't expect him to get this close so quickly." He sighs woefully. "It's a shame, really. I hadn't really planned on hurting him but now that he's getting close…"

He turns to look at one of his henchmen and I launch myself at him, knocking him down and causing him to smack his head against the cement floor. I get a few good punches in before the men are yanking my body off of him and tossing me onto the floor.

One of them gives me a swift kick in the ribs, knocking the air out of me and then he kicks me again. That kick gets me in the side of the face and I bite down on my cheek, tasting blood in my mouth. I spit it out and know I'm going to have a giant welt on the side of my face because of the asshole.

"Stupid, stupid girl!" Victor growls when he's back on his feet. I notice he's holding his head. Good. I hope he has a goddamn concussion. Or maybe he has a brain bleed. One can only hope.

I'm dragged back into the room with Mason's body and I jump to my feet, adrenaline suddenly coursing through my body. I kick the one man's knee out from behind him, watching him collapse and then I wrap my arm tightly around his neck, locking my elbow in place. Unfortunately, he got his hands in place and is able to rip my arm away, tossing me easily over his shoulder. I hit the solid ground, the wind getting knocked out of me again and then he punches me and I groan, holding my face. I don't get up.

The door slams shut as he leaves and I groan in pain. The floor is cold and it chills my already cold body. My damp clothes don't help the matter. Slowly, I drag myself into a sitting position and then crawl away from the door, into the far corner, pulling my legs into my chest.

Dimitri is looking for me. He has the police and FBI involved. He'll find me. He'll find me soon. I believe in him. Victor better not fucking touch him.

I try to avoid looking at Mason's body, but I can't. I keep hoping that maybe he'll twitch or something, but he doesn't. Glancing down at my hands, I notice my hands are still covered in his blood and his blood stains my pants and sweatshirt. There's a giant red spot on the floor from where he was shot. I swallow back vomit.

I grip my hair with shaking hands and try to control my breathing, feeling a panic attack coming on. I want to get out of here. I want to be anywhere but here. I don't want to stare at his body, knowing he was killed because of me. I don't want to think about it.

Hour after hour passes and I remain seated on the floor. My stomach starts to hurt with hunger pains and my throat is dry. On top of that, my body is shaking nonstop, my wet clothes making the cold twenty times worse.

Victor doesn't come back down here and neither do his henchmen. My head throbs and I can feel my face swelling where I was hit.

Eventually someone comes down. It's Victor and he's alone. All the alarms in my head start going off. He has something planned and it can't be good if he's alone. He either knows I won't fight back or that I won't be able to fight back. I'm going to be sick.

"You look terrible, Rosemarie." Victor comments, walking slowly over to where I'm standing. He stops a few feet in front of me, one hand resting on top of his walking cane and the other behind his back.

Using the wall, I slowly pull myself up to my feet. "What the hell do you want?" I spit.

The arm that's behind his back moves and he's holding a gun, pointed right at my chest. The same gun that killed Mason. My throat feels tight as I stare at the gun.

"I want what I deserve, Rose. It's really not that difficult to understand." His tone is unnaturally calm and I can feel my chest rising in panic. "I deserve the Dragomir inheritance. I have worked my entire life, waiting for it. And then two teenage girls get the fortune – and one who isn't even related to the family!" He glares at me. "It must be nice, coming from nothing to everything. Your mother is an incredibly well-respected agent, but it must have been terrible never having her there for you. Oh, but you survived. You survived on the love and attention from Eric and Rhea."

He cocks the barrel back, keeping it aimed on my chest the whole time. His finger hovers over the trigger and I shut my eyes, taking a deep breath.

And then Dimitri's training comes back to me. The one and only day where he taught me how to disarm someone with a gun. The only time he ever let me touch his gun. I open my eyes and can see Victor staring at me questioningly. In one swift move I move my body to the inside of Victor's arm, one hand going to grab the top of the gun and then other smacking his wrist away. As soon as I have the gun out of his hold, I take a step back from him and aim it at his chest. He looks reasonably surprised and he holds his hands up.

"You're not going to shoot me, Rose." The surprise on his face is replaced with a condescending smile. "You're an innocent girl. You would never murder someone."

"It's not murder if it's in self-defense, old man." I growl. But he's right and I know I can't bring myself to shoot him, even after all the shit he's done to me and Lissa. He deserves to rot in prison the rest of his life.

He shakes his head, the smile still on his face and I feel my anger growing. It's really stupid of him to instigate me when I'm the one holding the gun. "You really think that shooting me will end this? That it will get revenge for your friend?" He nods his head toward Mason's body.

Staring at Mason's body now, with his murderer in the room, I feel all my anger rushing towards my hands. My vision turns red again and my fingers are burning, urging me to pull the trigger. Pull the trigger and end this. End it all.

Suddenly, both of us are distracted by sudden noise upstairs. There's the sound of gunshots and screaming and I feel a weight lifted off my chest.

Dimitri's here.

But then I look back at Victor and he's still surrounded in a red mist, the red getting darker and darker. "You won't do it." He says again, his eyes gleaming like this is a joke. "Even to keep Lissa safe."

 _Lissa_.

The sound of him saying her name makes my blood boil and suddenly I'm imagining Lissa in my place. Imagining the things he would do to hurt her, the real daughter of Eric. The real reason he doesn't have the fortune.

And then I'm pulling the trigger and Victor collapses to the ground, blood pooling on his dark blue jacket.

The gun hits the floor at the same time as Victor's body and I'm sliding down the cement wall, my hands shaking.

The door swings open and a handful of people run into the room, guns up and looking around. Two of them are wearing vests with "FBI" on them and the other four are wearing police uniforms. "Rose Hathaway?" One of the agents asks, squatting next to me. I slowly nod once, my wide eyes staring at Victor's body. His lifeless body.

One of the police officers is bent over Mason's body and my entire body starts to shake, and this time it isn't from the cold. The agent stares at me with worried eyes and she holds a flashlight near my face, examining the wounds. "We're going to need a paramedic." She orders into a clip on her vest. She holsters her gun and then stands up. She discretely places herself in front of me, shielding me from looking at either of the bodies.

"Where is she?!" I hear a panicked voice. A familiar voice, one that sends a wave of relief over my body hearing it. Dimitri's fine. He's not harmed.

Dimitri runs to my side, kneeling down next to me and brushing my hair out of my face. He spits something in Russian when he touches the swelling in my cheek. He slips his arms under me, cradling me into his body and then stands up. "Roza…" He murmurs and I grip onto his bulletproof vest. "You're okay. You're safe now."

We're outside and I'm blinded by the flashing lights of all the police cars and the multiple ambulances, but it's easy to tell that it's nighttime.

Dimitri carries me over to one of the ambulances, setting me down gently so that one of the paramedics can examine me. The entire time, Dimitri is standing off to the side with his arms crossed tightly across his chest, staring at me, while I sit and let the paramedic wipe away my dried blood on the cuts on my head and then bandage them, silent. I don't speak to him or to Dimitri or even look anywhere but the ground in front of me.

After the paramedics done, reassuring me that I don't have a concussion, a thick blanket is draped over my shoulders and I pull it tightly around me.

"What were you thinking?" Dimitri finally speaks up once the paramedic walks away. I'm staring at my hands, still caked with Mason's dried blood, and shrug. "What you did was incredibly, incredibly stupid. You're lucky you weren't badly hurt." He moves to stand in front of me and then squats so we're at eye level. He gently grasps my chin and forces me to look at him. His hair is a bun at the nape of his neck and his brown eyes are filled with relief and anger. "Rose, talk to me." He begs.

I shake my head, fighting back tears. I don't want to cry anymore, I'm so tired of crying. "He's gone…Mason." My voice is low, almost a whisper. And when I look at him, I see the paramedics wheeling two black body bags out of the complex and a sob escapes my chest. "He killed Mason…Victor…and then I…I killed Victor." I clamp a hand over my mouth, trying to quiet the sobs.

Dimitri's expression darkens and he grabs my hands, looking at the dried blood. He examines my hand closely. "It's not mine." I whisper, pulling my hands back into my lap.

A paramedic walks by and Dimitri asks him for something. "Rose," Dimitri says, more calm than his earlier rant. "He was going to kill you – he had already killed Mason. He was a murderer." The same paramedic comes back with a box of antiseptic wipes and Dimitri reaches for my hands. I let him take them and he starts to carefully wipe the blood off.

"I remembered your training." I mumble after a while; Dimitri is almost finished cleaning off my left hand. He stops mid-wipe and glances at me. "I remembered how to disarm someone with a gun."

His eyes flash with something resembling pride, but he doesn't say anything and just goes to start on wiping my right hand.

Police cars start to leave, only one staying behind. A police officer approaches me, along with an FBI agent. They question me about what happened, both of them reassuring me that they were going to throw the whole book at the henchmen Victor had hired. They weren't going to get bail or even have a chance at parole.

They leave and then Dimitri is walking me back towards the only remaining black SUV. I still have the blanket wrapped tightly around myself when I climb into the passenger's seat. I stare at the complex that's illuminated only by this car's headlights and the fading lights of the ambulance.

The ride is quiet and long and it's almost four in the morning by the time we get back to the safe house.

As soon as we're in the door, Lissa is throwing herself at me, wrapping her arms tightly around my shoulders. I wince slightly and then wrap my arms around her, still clutching the blanket tightly.

"I was so worried." Lissa mumbles into my shoulder. I sigh, knowing how she felt. But I'm so happy to know that she's safe and that nothing can or will hurt her. At least not when it comes to people we know. "I heard that…it was Uncle Victor that was doing all of this." She says softly, her bright green eyes wide and hurt. "I should have known, Rose. I'm so sorry."

Shaking my head, I wipe away her tears with the tip of my blanket. "There was no way for you to know."

Dimitri and Spiridon move to the living room, but I know they're still close by. I watch Dimitri as he walks away and feel a pang in my chest. "You should have seen Dimitri after you ran. He was so pissed; he was scary for a few minutes when he was questioning me. He was going out of his mind while you were gone. He actually yelled at the FBI Agents and threatened them. They were terrified of him."

We make our way upstairs to my bedroom and we both sit down on the edge of my bed still not covered in sheets. "Mason's dead." I blurt out, a stinging sensation in my chest.

"I'm so sorry, Rose." Lissa gathers me into her arms again and I don't cry. Why am I not crying? "I'm so sorry."

After a bit, I pull away from her. "Can you give me a few minutes? I really need to shower." She nods and takes her leave. I drop the blanket onto my bed and then grab a fresh pair of underwear, a pair of black sweatpants and an army green hoodie.

I disappear into my bathroom and take a long, hot shower. I scrub my hair and scrub my body at least three times. Standing under the running water, I stare at my palms. I feel like Mason's blood is still on them. I scrub them again until I can't smell anything except the lavender body wash. I shut off the shower and then dry off, changing into my pajamas.

When I go back into my bedroom, Dimitri is sitting on the edge of my bed. He's changed into a black t-shirt and dark blue jeans.

"What are you doing in here?" My bedroom door is shut.

He looks over at me, glancing at my attire and wet hair. "Feel any better?"

"Technically speaking." I mumble, sitting crossed legged next to him.

"You never should've had to shoot Dashkov, Rose. I should've been there the minute you got there. You never should have been hurt." He extends his hand, as if to touch my swollen cheek, but then drops it. "This is my fault."

He hangs his head in shame and I grab his hands, twisting my fingers through them. The contact warms my hands and it sends a warm shiver down my spine. "No, it's not. You did everything you could. Because of you I am alive." He doesn't look at me. I take one hand and place it on the side of his face, forcing him to look at me. "If you had never taught me those defense techniques, I would have died tonight. Or maybe even two days ago. The point is, you did your job – kept me alive."

"Your friend never should have died. You never should've had to kill someone." I swallow the lump in my throat, hating the reminder of Mason.

I shake my head. "I'll be fine…in time." I drop my hand and then lean in, pressing my head to his shoulder, keeping one hand intertwined with his. "I thought he was going to hurt you. He had people watching you and he threatened you. I was terrified."

He snakes an arm around my waist, pulling me closer. "I'm indestructible, Roza." I laugh through the tears that are now streaming down my face. "Except around you. I thought I was going to lose you and it terrified me – you not knowing how I felt about you."

"I know how you feel." I take a deep breath, breathing in his familiar and comforting scent. "I could've died and you never would know how much I love you."

His hand strokes my damp hair and I shiver. "I love you, too. As much as it terrifies me."

"And even if you think it's inappropriate?" I tack on and his chest rumbles with a laugh.

"Even if it's inappropriate – which it is not." He admits his lie from way back when and I grin.

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pull myself up look at him and then press my lips against his. He doesn't resist or shove me away, instead he pulls me closer to him and I feel his lips move against mine – warm and strong.

I didn't know what was going to happen from here – if we were going to stay here in this house or go back to our apartment. I didn't know how I was going to be able to cope with losing Mason, one of my closest friends next to Lissa. And then there was the fact that I killed someone. I didn't know how to deal with that guilt. Sure, he was a terrible person who was going to hurt the people I love, but surely that didn't make my actions acceptable?

But whatever happened next, I knew that somehow…somehow I would be okay. I had Lissa. She was safe, unarmed and nobody was going to be able to touch her or threaten her again – the bad guy was gone. And I had Dimitri.

Dimitri, who didn't leave my side when we got back to the house, who stayed by my side when I succumbed to the pain medication, drifting to sleep. Who was there to hold me in the middle of the night when I woke up, multiple times, because of nightmares – of guns and cold bodies and cement basements. He held me until I calmed down, reassuring me over and over again that I was safe.

I was safe.


End file.
